Tim Hudson embracing San Francisco

Tim Hudson has moved into prime Giants’ real estate. His spring training locker is right between Tim Lincecum and Matt Cain, two stalls down from Madison Bumgarner.

And when the team heads north to begin the regular season, Hudson will move into prime San Francisco real estate.

Unlike most athletes with families who retreat to the suburbs, to live behind gates and walls, Hudson, his wife Kim and their three children will move into the Cow Hollow neighborhood, off Union Street, eager to embrace an urban lifestyle.

“We’ve always been suburb people,” Hudson said. “Now we can give our kids an experience they haven’t had, to let them live in the city. What better place to spend the summer than San Francisco?”

Hudson, 38, was the Giants major offseason acquisition, signing a two-year $23 million contract. He’s coming off a serious right ankle injury suffered last July but is on schedule in terms of rehabilitation. He’s thrown five scoreless innings this spring and is currently in line to start the Giants home opener on April 8 at his new home ballpark.

Much of Hudson’s energy this spring has been spent figuring out the culture and routines of his new club. After spending his first six seasons with the A’s, Hudson settled in for nine years in Atlanta, evolving into an elder statesman who knew the organization inside and out.

“This is the first time I’ve been in a new locker room in a long time,” he said. “I’m learning how things are done around here. It’s been challenging, getting to know all the new coaches and staff and players.

“But it’s exciting. That’s one of the things that intrigued me about coming out to the West Coast. It’s a new experience.”

And the lifestyle he’s choosing will be new. In Atlanta, Hudson had a rare set up for a major league player: he worked in the same locale where his family lived and his kids attended school. He didn’t go through the same extended absences from family and constant plane flights that so many professional athletes do once their children start school.

Hudson, who grew up in Phenix City, Alabama, attended Auburn University, where he met his wife Kim. When they returned to the south from Oakland, after the A’s traded him to the Braves, they lived in the suburbs while building a home back in Auburn. Kim is a practicing attorney in Auburn. Their children Kennedie, 12, Tess, 9, and Kade, 8, have been raised within a 90-minute drive to Braves’ home games.

“Auburn is a very small, quiet college town, a different kind of place geographically and culturally,” Hudson said. “It’s good for kids to experience different things. From the beginning, we decided let’s do something we wouldn’t normally do. Let’s live in the city.”

When the Giants played at Candlestick Park, most of the players lived outside of the city. For years, Foster City was the preferred location. Since AT&T Park was built, more and more players live within the San Francisco city limits, especially the younger, single players. But usually those with wives and children – like Buster Posey and Jeremy Affeldt – opt for the comfort of the suburbs.

So Hudson will be bucking a trend.

“It’s an awesome city, an awesome stadium, and great fans,” Hudson. “San Francisco was really at the top of our list.”

When Hudson was choosing his free agent destination, the choice came down to San Francisco and Oakland. When he played in Oakland, as part of the A’s “Big Three” rotation with Mark Mulder and Barry Zito, he lived in San Ramon. But he didn’t want to recreate that suburban lifestyle on his return to the Bay Area.

While in Atlanta, the Hudsons were active members of the community and started the Hudson Family Foundation, dedicated to helping children from financially struggling families. Examples of their work include helping to a family about to lose their home because of the cost of a child’s bone cancer treatments and sending children to a diabetes camp. Kim is the force behind the foundation.

“She’s my right-hand man,” Hudson said. “She keeps me in the right places. She’s very involved and committed to the foundation.”

Hudson is a family man. He knows it will be hard for him to be away from his kids until school lets out and they can head west. He’s a little sad that his oldest daughter accepted an invitation to go with a friend to Orlando rather than spend her spring break in Scottsdale.

“Oh my God, I’m not going to see you for three months,” Hudson told her.

“That’s going to be the challenging part,” he said. “They’ve never been away from me. So we might take a long weekend and have them meet me on the road.”

And then, once school is out, they’ll come to San Francisco to spend the summer. The difference won’t just be in culture and geography, but also in climate. Hey Hudsons, don’t forget to pack your sweaters.